White Oak is an enjoyable chick book - the kind of book you want to read while sitting on the beach or while on vacation.

Set in a small Arkansas town inhabited with unconventional characters, the story centers around Nathan and Cara Devon, a dysfunctional couple who spend the book wrestling with their inner demons. As the book progresses, you realize Nathan, a drug and alcohol abuser, is so far gone he is unable to think logically. Mitchell does a wonderful job of capturing the mindset of a person totally at the mercy of his addiction.

It is a bit more difficult to understand Cara. She has so many issues, and vacillates so much, it makes her behavior difficult to understand.

The book is written mostly in the first person - from Cara's and then from Nathan's point of view. I feel it would have better had there been more interaction between her and Nathan. Still it was such as easy read, and just what I needed about this time

Real love is not found in novels... except this one. Ruth Mitchell found the critical consciousness of a couple struggling over the demands of their bodies and psychologically determined pasts. She imagines her characters with clarity and realizes them in raw language. Mitchell writes this first novel as if she forgot it was a book and was sculpting actual passion and hardship. I recommend White Oak to everyone!

This is war of course: rad fems vs. omega males. I am intrigued by how the old Marxist rhetoric has been brought up to date and recycled by the feminist movement. Capitalism and the old social order are again the enemies. They are, perhaps, but feminism is not the solution. If feminists had control, instead of the underprivileged women being second class citizens, it would be the omega males. The human condition would not improve. It would be, as The Who phrased it some years ago, "The new boss just like the old boss."

The really depressing thing about feminism is that it's just politics as usual, i.e., more of the same old sorry attempt to get the upper hand. Politics is about power. It is about who gets what, when, where, how and why, as an old poli sci textbook had it. Nonetheless, as social criticism, feminism is interesting. And it is from this point of view that I found this book worth reading. The chapter on pornography and the debate between feminists Paglia and MacKinnon is interesting. MacKinnon is a puritanical prude and Paglia a tantric wanna-be goddess who thinks pornography is freeing. Pornography does free males, and that's what some women don't like about it. They want dependent males.

Also interesting is the argument that the family is a patriarchal institution that imposes subjugation on women by its very nature. In a sense this is right because the main societal purpose of marriage is not to raise children. (The band and the tribe are capable of that.) It is to insure that the alpha males don't end up controlling most of the women, leaving a large number of men without reproductive chances. A feminist might naturally prefer it that way, since then she gets to mate with the alpha male, which is her heart's desire in the first place. The problem is that large-scale societies are unstable if a large percentage of the males have no reproductive chance. They will more than just rage against the alpha-male/harem/matriarchal structure. They will tear it down and rape and pillage as they go. Consequently, we have marriage and the family. To some extent it is a fraud and a lie and a patriarchal institution, but unless we are going back to living in bands, there is no choice.

Since today's sexually disenfranchised males can be controlled by the political structure so that women have little fear of them, there arises the desire, as expressed in this book, to get rid of marriage altogether and take one's chance at mating with the alpha males, and if that doesn't work out, one can always mate with the beta males, or to hell with it. Certainly, one does not have to marry and become a housewife, or in any other way serve an omega male! Please.

And I agree. However, women are naturally not satisfied with that. What they understandably want is to somehow get rid of those undesirable males, which has always been one of the purposes of the war system. But that system is dying, and with its demise will come the ascendency of women. The gender specific qualities of women, being more social and more political, will catapult women into positions of power. That's what men fear. However it may be that a society without war in which all those omega males are running around without females will need some sort of adjustment. I'm sure the more radical feminists in semi-conscious alliance with the alpha males will come up with something...appropriate. Right now we have nearly two million people in prison in this country, the overwhelming majority of them omega males.

Another (implicit) issue is the awkwardness the feminist movement feels in the face of the rise of evolutionary psychology. The problem simply is that, with the discoveries of evolutionary psychology, the feminist sense of moral righteousness as victim is destroyed; and the woman is seen as an equal partner in the war system of violence and rape. It was all so much easier to blame the male for the violence and the other evils of the war system. Unfortunately evolutionary psychology gives the lie to that sophistry. Women, by their sexual choices, have again and again preferred, and have chosen, the war-like, the powerful and the violent male to any nerd. I personally cannot blame them since it is a strong genetic preference, just as males cannot help but chose the young and beautiful over the old and unhealthy.

In the final analysis the problem with some of the essays in this book and with feminism in general is that they're sexist, relying on a gender-specific definition of being human. Anyone who thinks that his or her sexual identify is the most important aspect of self is a fool. Those who identify with sexuality or even with the slippery concept of "gender," and take pride in that identification, are primitives. Sex is a mechanism of the evolutionary system eons older than humans, and as such is a primitive attribute shared by the most unsophisticated of creatures. We all also move our bowels, and that's a wonderful thing to do, but let's not see that as our finest or defining characteristic. We need to identify ourselves as humans or just as living creatures. To emphasize sex or gender as an important aspect of self is not only degrading but delusionary.

Reviewer: Dennis Littrell (see more about me) from SoCal
u are way way off base dennis socal. you totally missed the point of this brillant feminist prose. it's to bad your so defense about your brain washed point of view. if your truly in touch with your womym, this book is for u. it does take a little pior knowledge of feminist theory seeing that no point of view in popular culture can conceptlize their chains to dehumanizing women. if your truly willing to challenegeing yourself, and know anger is just one part of a huge reaction, to a huge human rights crisis, this book can touch your soul.

In format, this book is not dissimilar to Parker's Burgundy or Coates' Cote d'Or (i.e., listings by appellation, listing by producer, etc.). It is nowhere near as comprehensive as either of the aforementioned works (both of which I highly recommend), however, it does not try to be. It does provide succinct overviews of the major districts and producers. Serena Sutcliffe, a Master of Wine, is very knowledgeable about her subject. It is worth buying the book just to get her perspective. The greatest negative about the book is the small type. This may be personal to me, but I read wine books for enjoyment, and I find that the very small type of this book diminishes that enjoyment.

Although Coates' "The Cote d'Or" is the indispensable (and massive) reference for Burgundy wines, Sutcliffe's pocket-size book is an excellent introduction to the subject. I'm impressed at the author's ability to be both concise and comprehensive, as well as to make her very definite opinions known. I especially appreciate her introduction to the concept of "terroir", and her descriptions of the soil in each village and appellation -- critical to understanding the character of Burgundy wine. I received my copy of this book as an end-of-tour gift from the guide who led our group of nine through Burgundy last month. She recommended it highly, and the ensuing 10 days have led me to agree with her.

I love Italian wines, so I grabbed this when I found it. It does have great information - a breakdown of wines by region, then for each region it gives the main types of wine and the vintages that are good for each type. A general star rating indicates how well this wine does in general. Next to each region is a list of the key producers of that wine, with a brief note about the producer.

I think, though, that this will be relatively difficult for a person new to wine to use. If you're looking at a Ruffino Chianti, you look up Ruffino. Its brief notes about Ruffino don't indicate if this is a good or bad winery. You then move to the Chianti section and find out what a Chianti is, but now you are given general notes about which years are good. The years are just listed - you can't tell which are better than others.

If the book had even a general rating for each winery, and more details about the vintages, I think this would be excellent. Maybe a future edition will include this information.

If you like Italian wines or are interested in learning more about wines of Italy, this is the book for you! Extremely informative, this book describes many of the varietal wines that are unique to Italy. Ever wondered what to look for on a label when choosing a good Chianti? How about the difference between a Chianti, Chianti Classico, and Chianti Classico Reserva? Explore the different regions of Italy and the many wines produced from them. Wines of Italy is great with a glass of Montalcino Brunello or your favorite Chianti!

it was a really good course to learn some of the basics, change some of my bad habbits. certainly, it took me one (or two) steps ahead. i recommend not only for managers but also for anyone who wants to improve his interaction with others.

Dr. Perry's Winning Communication Skills have been immediately helpful for me in interacting with people and has helped eliminate some negative and detrimental psychology. The 4-cd packet is broken up well into 4 categories: 1. Listening. 2. Speaking. 3. Reducing resistance. 4. Handling conflict. Each disc has terrific insight into so many of our communication flaws in our daily life. This series has definitely challenged and improved the way I communicate. It is a wise investment for anyone who is interested in improving the way they interact with others. I especially like the fact that he separated the tracks into small categories, which makes it very useful and easy to refer back to a specific section. For example, one of the Cds has like 28 tracks on it. The only negative comment I have is the fact that the sound quality is not great, at times. The volume changes occasionally so you must adjust the volume on your stereo. Overall, the series is more than worth the investment.

Unlike so many other cookbooks, this one is practical and gives the best possible combination -- convenience, speed, nutrition and variety while no skimping on flavor either.

In this book I learned Mitchell's philosophy that works well with mine. She professes that "cooking from scratch is a much better choice for health-conscious dining. It's a much better alternative than takeout food and low-fat frozen meals tend to be deceptively high in calories."

Mitchell says that one of the simple pleasures of cooking for one is never having to make something you don't like. You can eat breakfast for dinner or double a recipe and serve it at another meal.

This book works for me!

THis is a very thorough guide to new laws and policies surrounding the complex business of payroll processing. It is not an exciting book but is very detailed. Not much changes from previous editions other than legal updates.

This is a must for payroll departments everywhere.

It's not often that real authors (Bill McKibben and Sue Halpern) get in the outdoor guidebook business. This bike book is a winner.

I play the violin and I am a beginner and a little less than an intermediate. I bought this book because I love classical music very much. This book has some popular Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Handel, and other composers' popular music. It's a great way to just relax and play some favorite classical pieces by yourself

This is quite possibly the most eloquently written book filled with a multitude of facts. I used this as a reference for a thesis paper, and it was a tremendous help. I advise anyone even remotely concerned with abortion to get this book. You wont regret it!